Campus News

Tragic selfies

After a 7.8-magnitude earthquake hit in Nepal in April, images of people taking selfies in front of the ruined Dharahara Tower began popping up.

UGA’s W. Keith Campbell, an expert on narcissism, told Yahoo Canada that there are many motivations for such behavior.

“Some are narcissistic, ‘Hey, check me out. I’m so cool,’ and some are ‘Look how bad this is,’ ” he said.

Campbell, a professor and head of the psychology department in Franklin College, said it’s impossible to know the motivation behind the images.

“I try not to judge, lest I be judged,” he said. “Some might be communicating to loved ones: ‘Hey, I’m alive.’ They could just be celebrating being alive.”